The National Recording Preservation Board held its inaugural meeting on Tuesday, March 12, at the Library of Congress. Appointed by James Billington, Librarian of Congress, in accordance with the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-474), the board is made up of 17 members from organizations named in the legislation, as well as three at-large members. These organizations represent composers, musicians, musicologists, librarians, archivists, and the recording industry. Dr. Billington named Marilyn Bergman, president and chairman of the board of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), to chair the new Preservation Board.
The purpose of the National Recording Preservation Act is to launch an effort to preserve the nation's rich legacy of all kinds of sound recordings, analogous to that already underway at the Library under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act to save America's films for future generations.
The law directs the board to develop a comprehensive national recording preservation study and action plan and to review and advise the Librarian concerning recordings nominated for inclusion in a National Recording Registry. According to the law, the Librarian shall establish the National Recording Registry "for the purpose of maintaining and preserving sound recordings that are culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."
"We have a great responsibility ahead of us," said Dr. Billington as he opened the meeting. "We must assure the preservation and accessibility of more than 100 years of recorded sound. The sounds of our times, and those of the 20th century, will be experienced first-hand by generations to come when we accomplish this important goal."
At the March meeting, the board discussed nomination and selection criteria of sound recordings for the National Recording Registry and provided input on various means for soliciting nominations from the public. Utilizing these suggestions, as well as continuing input from the board, the Librarian will formulate the criteria for the selection of recordings to the registry, which will then be published in the Federal Register.
The Preservation Board concluded their day by beginning to plan for the comprehensive study of current sound recording preservation practices and issues. Board members discussed a variety of topics such as the feasibility of establishing technical standards for preservation reformatting, the identification of impediments to preservation of sound recordings and access to those recordings, and the recognition of potential collaborative opportunities.
The three components of the National Recording Preservation Act–the study and report, the national plan, and the National Recording Registry–provide the necessary elements of a comprehensive program to ensure the survival, conservation, and increased public availability of America's sound recording heritage, noted Dr. Billington.
The study and plan will set standards for future private and public preservation efforts. It will be conducted in conjunction with the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, which the Library is developing in Culpeper, Va. The recording preservation program will promote coordination of activities of archivists and copyright owners, increase accessibility to sound recordings for educational purposes, recommend ways to utilize the Culpeper facility to preserve the recordings on the National Registry, develop new "best practices" for sound recording preservation, and assist in the transition from analog to digital preservation for sound recordings. The study will be initiated later this year.
Marilyn Bergman, chair of the board, remarked that "the inaugural board meeting provided a valuable forum for archivists, librarians, scholars, music performing rights organizations, the music creative community, and representatives of the recording industry to candidly discuss audio preservation goals, issues and challenges. Together we will work toward the goal of preserving our sound recording heritage.
NRPB Members
The following were selected by the Librarian to represent the institutions named in the National Recording Preservation Act.
- American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
Marilyn Bergman, member; Charles Bernstein, alternate - American Federation of Musicians
Alfonso Pollard, member; Steven A. Gibson, alternate - American Folklore Society
Burt Feintuch, member; Timothy Lloyd, alternate - American Musicological Society
José Antonio Bowen, member; Deane L. Root, alternate - Association for Recorded Sound Collections
Bill Klinger, member; David Hamilton, alternate - Audio Engineering Society
George Massenburg, member; Elizabeth Cohen, alternate - Broadcast Music Inc.
Frances Preston, member; David Sanjek, alternate - Country Music Foundation
Kyle Young, member; Alan Stoker, alternate - Digital Media Association
Jeffrey Okkonen, member; Chris Douridas, alternate - Music Library Association
James Farrington, member; Barbara Sawka, alternate - National Archives and Records Administration
Donald Roe, member; Les Waffen, alternate - National Academy of Popular Music
Irv Lichtman, member; Ervin Drake, alternate - National Association of Recording Merchandisers
Rachelle Friedman, member; Pamela Horovitz, alternate - National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
Michael Greene, member; Eugene Maillard, alternate - Recording Industry Association of America
Hilary Rosen, member; John Simson, alternate - SESAC
William Velez, member; Dennis Lord, alternate - Society for Ethnomusicology
Anthony Seeger, member; Suzanne Flandreau, alternate
The following individuals were selected by the Librarian of Congress as at-large members: Michael Feinstein, Mickey Hart, and Barbara Ringer.
